How WWE Should Shake Up Post-WrestleMania Roster to Keep Fans Excited

Around this time of year, many people feel compelled to take part in spring cleaning—so much so that even WWE management tends to do the same.

It's a strange coincidence, but it syncs up well for the end of the wrestling season, with WrestleMania being the perfect time to hit the reset button.

By this point, all of the major feuds have already happened and Superstars have worked in nearly every combination they can, so the easiest way to keep things fresh is to swap people around to different rosters.

Whether it's through call-ups from NXT to the main roster or the impending Superstar Shake-Up which will take effect around Backlash 2018 on May 6, there are some changes on the horizon.

Let's take a look at some of the best possible options WWE has to keep things fresh and start the post-WrestleMania season off with a bang.

All moves in the Superstar Shake-Up need to be balanced, as trading too many people results in nothing but a color swap between the red and blue brands.

However, if we work under the assumption Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, AJ Styles and Bobby Roode are rather firmly planted on SmackDown, Jinder Mahal is a prime candidate to shift to the opposing brand.

He has feuded with all of them and has nothing left to accomplish by entering another feud with them—particularly considering how much of a struggle the program between him and Nakamura was.

Mahal had his time to shine on SmackDown Live and was given a world championship reign because he was able to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond for that show, but now he has that on his list of accolades, he has a stronger chance to remain a solid midcarder anywhere he goes.

Raw could use his presence in the Intercontinental Championship field to feud with the babyfaces who hover around that title, but he could also be advantageous for other purposes.

It can be assumed Roman Reigns will defeat Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34, and Mahal would be someone he has yet to feud with and who could be easily fed to The Big Dog.

Also, Raw tends to focus more on characters and less on wrestling ability, so a gimmick such as Mahal's projected visage strikes that writing team's strengths more than those on SmackDown.

It doesn't matter which brand they are placed on, but The Iconic Duo coming to Raw or SmackDown is an absolute must.

Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have long since been established enough to graduate to the main roster as they hit the mark where there is no more upward momentum coming their way in NXT.

Neither of them will win the NXT Women's Championship as it would leave the other one out and detract from Shayna Baszler, so if they are just going to hang around in the developmental brand doing nothing, they might as well work Raw or SmackDown to advance their careers.

Even touring on the live circuit and not being the primary focal points would still help them get accustomed to the next stage in their progression.

Ideally, they should stay away from Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to avoid having two heel teams on the same brand, but The Riott Squad on SmackDown cuts into that, too.

Then again, The Riott Squad hasn't made much of a splash and has yet to illustrate why it is a unit or anything its members could have in common with each other, so WWE should consider making this a two-move step.

In the process of bringing The Iconic Duo to the SmackDown brand, The Riott Squad should split up—with one or two of them going to Raw—and never team up in any official capacity again.

Meanwhile, Kay and Royce can fill the void of being the women who have each other's backs and get under everyone else's skin.

Sometimes, two people are so intrinsically tied to each other that they can't help but clash on a regular basis.

The Rock found himself magnetically drawn to both Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H throughout his career, John Cena and Randy Orton were regularly up against each other and The Four Horsewomen are always stepping on one another's toes.

Kevin Owens has been associated with Sami Zayn since his debut, and the two have been together almost nonstop ever since, perpetually fighting over and over again.

It got to the point where they wrestled their supposed last match together, only to pick up right where they left off seemingly the next week.

Now, even though they became a team again at Hell in a Cell, they've spent the last few months bickering and fighting each other as a return to the status quo.

By this point, it's grown beyond tiresome and fans could use a break of seeing them in the ring together.

Whether it is Owens who stays on SmackDown and Zayn leaves for Raw or vice versa, these two need to be separated to allow them time to grow apart and have some feuds that don't feel like the one-millionth rehash.

Both have the tools to succeed in the upper-midcard or main event of either brand, depending on the new people they would find themselves surrounded by, but the most important thing is to prevent WWE getting lazy and falling back on old habits by putting them together for a while.

At the moment, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor are in the same sort of limbo where they are too big to be overlooked but not prioritized enough to be given a run with the world title on Monday Night Raw.

That is clearly meant for Reigns and it doesn't seem like WWE will budge on that, meaning the best both men can settle for is holding the Intercontinental Championship while the other tries to figure out something else to do.

Both could benefit greatly from a move to SmackDown, where they would easily become an equal or surpass Nakamura as the top babyface on the brand.

Neither has had a feud with Nakamura, which would give the fans something different to look forward to.

This is magnified even more if Styles, Roode and Orton stay on SmackDown, as most of those pairings have yet to be done; Rollins vs. Styles, Balor vs. Roode, Balor vs. Orton and Rollins vs. Roode.

Even the match between Balor and Styles from TLC 2017 proved those two could have an amazing feud, especially if Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were brought over, too, so The Bullet Club could really be the foundation for the storyline.

Whoever moves to SmackDown could play a major part in the United States Championship scene and possibly even lead the WWE Championship picture for a long time as one of the top guys on the brand.

This is a general idea from an overall perspective because the specifics can change with one or two variables.

Given the current predicament with Braun Strowman wanting to win the Raw Tag Team Championship on his own, that could be a huge dynamic shift in how the tag teams on Raw are treated, which could go in a positive or negative direction.

Also, the addition of new teams such as Sanity and The Authors of Pain to either brand—hopefully separate ones—must be factored in before making trades.

Ideally, The New Day and The Usos would be split up, too. They have had some fantastic matches in 2017, but they've done it enough times that their encounter at WrestleMania should be the last for a while.

When thinking about the future of feuds between The Usos and The Revival and The Bar, or how The Authors of Pain could be the ones responsible for dethroning Strowman on Raw while Sanity could have a great program with The New Day, a picture starts to form.

The Usos need to be brought over to Raw, preferably with Naomi to make it easier for Jimmy Uso's marriage.

The Authors of Pain should graduate to the Raw roster as well trying to make a name for themselves.

Sanity should go to SmackDown, as should possibly Titus Worldwide to help fill the babyface gap left from The Usos and give them a change of scenery, unless The Hardy Boyz are able to reform and would be a better fit for that job.

When Big Cass returns from injury, he is probably going to find himself in the same type of position Baron Corbin has been in for a long time: the midcard guy who can't quite get a footing but clearly isn't going to become a total jobber soon.

With Corbin, WWE gave him the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win and didn't capitalize on it, passed him over for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 33, eventually let him hold the Money in the Bank briefcase but had him fail to cash it in and then gave him a pity United States title reign where he accomplished little.

In Cass' case, he was starting to get a push with his feud against Enzo Amore until his injury got in the way, putting him on the shelf until whenever he's able to come back, which has yet to happen.

It's doubtful Cass will be much higher than the position Corbin currently finds himself in; since they'll be filling similar roles in similar spots on the hierarchy, they should be on opposite brands from each other.

The Lone Wolf could use a move to the Raw brand to escape repeat matches with Nakamura, Styles and Roode while giving him the option to start new ones against Reigns, Rollins and Strowman.

Cass, on the other hand, needs a fresh start where he has less competition to make an impact. If he's in the land of the big men such as Reigns, Strowman, Samoa Joe and the potential of The Authors of Pain, he won't stand out.

On the other hand, if he's alongside people like Styles, Tye Dillinger, Finn Balor and company, he'll seem much more dominant in comparison.

2018 is going to have to see some changes to the power struggle on both Raw and SmackDown out of pure necessity.

Shane and Stephanie McMahon seem deadlocked in staying away from each other, which makes perfect sense, so they have to remain on SmackDown and Raw, respectively, but their general managers will be different soon enough.

With Daniel Bryan returning to in-ring action, he's going to step away from his role as general manager, but it's also hard to imagine Kurt Angle keeping his position after feuding with Triple H and Stephanie at WrestleMania.

This leaves a void for both Raw and SmackDown in terms of leadership as GM, and not just in a few months but almost immediately.

Replacements will be needed soon, and in an ideal world, WWE will make sure it doesn't go back to the typical corporate stooge heel on Raw and fan favorite legend tropes they normally fall into.

Even if the game plan is to keep the commissioners as the McMahon family and have them be the corruptible ones with the general managers being more babyface rulemakers the crowd can pop for, thought is needed over who can sub in for Angle and Bryan in the best possible ways.

Perhaps it would be fun for the lunatic R-Truth to do one of those jobs or Sting to be called upon to help boost the SmackDown side of things.

Maybe a woman such as Eve Torres can return to take charge or, if you're looking for a leader who nobody would want to mess with, Mark Henry could lay down the law.

Then again, if Angle enjoys playing this sort of role for the company, he could be traded to SmackDown to replace Bryan and it would leave only one gap on Raw as far as new leadership is concerned.

It's important to also note that if Angle were to switch over to SmackDown, it can be assumed Jason Jordan would follow, as they can't continue the storyline of their familial relationship without being on the same brand.

This opens up a spot in the midcard of Raw, which could be filled with Mahal or maybe even a guy such as Mojo Rawley who could use a change of pace.

In any fashion, the general manager transition needs to start right after WrestleMania, as it wouldn't make sense for Angle and Bryan to keep their jobs following what is set to go down in New Orleans.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.